A Balenciaga and Lacroix vet crafts an exquisitely-made wardrobe for today's power femme.

In a way, Bouchra Jarrar approaches fashion more from the point of view of a writer than a designer. She wants to add chapters to a woman's wardrobe—and build it out—rather than render it moot every few months with the Next Big Trend. "I see my collections like a story, which began in January 2010 and that I hope will never end," says the Paris-based Jarrar, who spent nearly a decade as Balenciaga's studio director, from 1997 to 2006, and then a year and a half in Christian Lacroix's now-shuttered couture atelier before venturing out on her own. "I create wardrobes that complete and follow each other."

So far, her story has the makings of an epic tale. In just four seasons, Jarrar has garnered critical praise for her impeccably made clothes, a nomination for France's ANDAM (National Association for the Development of the Fashion Arts) 2010 prize, and, this season, retail partners that would make any designer beam: Bergdorf Goodman, Kirna Zabête, Neiman Marcus, and Ikram, among others.

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But the onslaught of attention hasn't distracted the 40-year-old from her razor-sharp vision: "In the end, I focus on the pure, simple, and minimalist." Indeed, each season, Jarrar winnows down forty-some looks to just 17 essential wardrobe pieces that will walk in her show. ("I make choices, just like a woman would do while packing to go on holiday.") For fall, these included day dresses and separates crafted out of traditional British menswear fabrics such as wools, tie silks, and tux satins. The effect was a sporty, masculine-feminine vibe: Tapered trousers were paired with cobalt and onyx V-neck tops accented with strips of her signature bold piping and panels, and gently slackened dresses featured off-center V necklines and slivers of contrasting material at the shoulder, neck, or hip. As for her preference for things that are slightly askew, "Asymmetry interests me because it is instinctive," Jarrar says. "I want to find a harmony between this asymmetry and contemporary elegance."

For the French Riviera–born, Paris-trained designer (she attended L'École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués) and daughter of Moroccan immigrants, ele­­gance has always been something of a mother tongue, the legends of Parisian fashion, particularly Coco Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent, her folk heroes. That sartorial era, she explains, "is like a perfume that accompanies me." Certainly, one notes this scent on her runway, where she reenvisions iconic silhouettes—the YSL-esque shift and smoking tuxedo, the menswear trouser à la Mme Chanel—with a neoclassical sensibility: discreet, modern cuts; a restrained palette (black, white, and gray, with bursts of azure); and subtle architectural details such as slices, folds, and cutouts.

Despite prices that fall within the realm of high-end ready-to-wear ($895 for pants, $1,815 to $2,900 for dresses and jackets), Jarrar shows her collection on the exclusive haute couture circuit. She prefers the slower pace of the season—she produces her collection in France and works out of a studio in Paris' Sentier district once occupied by one of Madame Grès' tailors—and its tradition of thoughtful, inspired craftsmanship. "My work is research," she says simply. "Beyond the fashion industry, it is the study of clothes that appeals to me."